Welcome to Wabash College’s blog about literature and theory! Prof. Agata Szczeszak-Brewer’s Literary and Cultural Theory students explore the purpose of literature, learn about different critical approaches to literature, use these theories to construct arguments about texts, and develop an awareness of their cultural resources.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Homosexuality vs. Religion

Dear Dark-Haired Love

My dark dear, dear dark-haired love,

our kisses open Christ’s wounds up;

don’t open your mouth, don’t tell a soul –

our love’s on the wrong side of the gospel.

-Cathal O’Searcaigh

This “dark” poem by Searcaigh shows the conflict that has always existed between homosexuality and religion.It shows how homosexuals have always been opposed to and persecuted by religious people.This opposition has caused homosexuals to stay in the closet throughout history.“Dark” is used to show the negative view on homosexuality in religion.It shows how being gay has been looked on as evil or immoral, causing the gay community and religious groups to constantly be opposed.The relationship between two people of the same sex seems to metaphorically “open Christ’s wounds up” because of the implication that homosexual people cannot be saved by God.Not only can they not be saved by God, these people will also then get shunned by most religious people who do not agree with their lifestyle.The character in this story, in an attempt to keep from getting persecuted by religious people, tells his lover “don’t tell a soul” because their kind of love is “on the wrong side of the gospel”.No matter how real their love is it cannot be accepted in a typical Christian society so they must keep it a secret.This has always been a problem in the gay community because they do not want their lifestyle to be discriminated against.Dear Dark Haired Love shows how homosexuals are discriminated against in a way which makes them stay in the closet in order to not get persecuted by religious groups. It shows how they are unfairly treated and it is a plea for more religious people to become more accepting of their lifestyle.

1 comment:

The last statement is also quite ironic: their "love" is on the wrong side of the gospel, which of course was the message of love itself. It's a plea, but it also has an ironic, cutting undertone that drives the point home.